Chances are, you have some improvement you’d like to make to your health.
Maybe you want to get more physical activity or stop eating sugar or lose weight.
Chances are, that because we’re less than a week away from Thanksgiving, you’ve told yourself that you’ll wait until after the new year to make the change you’ve been thinking about.
But what if you don’t wait?
What if you start now?
Think about the change you want to make as a lifestyle change, instead of short-term changes.
Instead of dieting to lose 20 pounds, think about eating healthy for the rest of your life. What does that look like for you? What change can you make now that will lead in that direction?
Make it something small and doable. If you set a goal to run a mile everyday and then skip the second day, set a smaller goal. Keep making the goal smaller until it’s so easy you can do it every day.
Now start doing it. Don’t wait until after Thanksgiving, or the holidays or tomorrow.
Just start doing that small thing now.
When you hit January, you will have been doing that small goal for five weeks.
At that point you can increase that small goal or add another goal on top of it that will move you in the direction you want to go.
Action:
Create a habit or a rule for yourself.
Habits
If you want to focus on physical activity, then create a habit.
The habit can be very small (put on your walking shoes and walk to the mailbox and back or do ten minutes of yoga everyday, etc).
The point is to add this thing into your life and keep it up so you can build on it later.
Rules
If you want to make a change to your eating, set a rule for yourself.
Make it small and doable (Eat leafy greens everyday or reduce the sugar in your coffee by 1/2 tsp., etc.).
The point here is to stick to your rule, even on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Make a plan for sticking to your rule on those days so you aren’t caught off-guard.
Come January, you can build on your rule and expand it.
I’d love to know if you’re going to try getting a jumpstart on a health goal now. Leave a comment below.
Absolutely on the mark! I’ve joined a program for food addicts (not sure if I am one but their program looks really good – no sugar or flour, eat three meals, nothing else and plan and commit your food the night befor. I’m starting small – sugar and flour are not a problem for me, but quantity is so I weigh and measure everything I eat to make sure I’m on target. Tha’ts all I can do for now. But I’m not waiting for the New Year – this is the beginning my New Life.
I love this! Those two steps of planning your food the night before and weighing portions are both small, but will have a big impact!